Frequent lancing for monitoring blood glucose may cause skin changes

Abstract

Fingertips and alternative lancing sites were examined for skin changes in 93 people with diabetes, regularly checking blood glucose. In all, 60 individuals had a thickened skin at one or more lancing spots. Mainly fingertips and earlobes were affected whereas the thenar and hypothenar were free from these changes. There is a clear positive relationship between lancing frequency and skin changes which is possibly influenced by individual disposition. The observed relationship suggests the way in which to avoid skin changes: as many lancing spots as possible should be alternately used, avoiding lancing a given spot more often than once every other day. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.